Julius kuttnee



vMaly 8, 1923 J. KUTTNEIR COMPOSITE ROLLER BEARING Filed March l5, 1918 A gpgN,

JU//L/s Ku UNER' Patented May 8, 1923.

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pplicfition fileil Merch 13, 1918. Serial No. 222,061.

To all 107mm 'it may concern:

Be it known 'that I, JULiUs Knrrincn, a citizen ot the United States ot Amel-ice, residing at 567 lest llth Streety New in the county of New York and. State oft lt York, have invented certain ncrv and usci lmproven'ients in (fl-oniposite Roller 'l ings, ot which the following is a speciiicun tion. y

rllhis invention relates to anti-friction bearings, more specifically to roller bearings designed to carry heavy loads.

At present anti-lriction bearings `may be `grouped in tivo clases. i. ball bearings and roller bearings. The :i irn'ier, while advantageous in certain respects, is limited in its load carrying capacity due to the coniparatively small surtece of contact between the ball and races. `While `this deirree ot contact may be increased by increesingr the alieni er oit the balls, this procedure canin oc carri-eil on indetinitely, due to the limit imposeifl by the permissible size ot' the bearing and el. ict oli, centrifugal force on the balls. Roller bearings having cylindrical rollers, on the other hand, are capable of carrying' a heavy load when working properly, i. e. when there is ay line contact between each roller and its race or races. lThis line contact exists, hovv ever, only when the surfaces are absolutely true and when the longitudinal eres ot the rollers maintain a` constant. anc'ular relationship With respect `to the axis of the bearing. Thus, when the longitudinal axes ot the rollers twist, the contact is no longer line contact but point Contact o'l such a i'iature as to produce scoringl ot the rollers and ie quently the bearing; becomes practically inoperative. y

The principal object ofthe present invesd tion is to provide a bearing; possessing' he advantages otboth the ball and cylindrical roller types Without the objectionable 'teatures of either ot the latter.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate what I now consider the preferred forms et' my inventioin Figure 1 is a sectional elevation ot one form oilE my bearing' as applied to a stabilizinn` gyroscopic rotor;

Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. l;v

Fig. 3 is a traytrinentarv sectional detail vieiv taken on the line P) oit Figi'. Qi;

Figs. 4; and 5 `are fragmentary sectional .li ig. 6 is a fragmentary detail, partly in `sect-ion illustrating` the position of the 'parts on the slacr lligr. 5.

Vilhile my improved bearing is capable ot supporting any heavy rotating' part, l have illust 1ated it in connection with a gyroscopie rotor l ot' the ship stabilizing! type. The latter is shown as secured to sha. t 2 adapted to rotate in a traine or casing` 3. The rotor l may be driven by means ot an armature 5 secured to the sha'lt 2, said armature constituting a part ot' an electric motor, the lields it l of which are shown secured to the cas ine' 3. i

lilach bearing, one only being shown in Figi'. l, comprises an outer race 6 and an inner race "i". The fforiner is shown clamped between an annular shoulder 9, on casingl Si. and an end plate l() detacliably secured to said casing. The race 7 is shown secured to sliait 2, a conical seat being' provided on the latter for that purpose, said race 7 being securelyheld in position by means oit a nut or other suitable means ll. ln order to malte the bearings self-aligning l prefer to curve the inner surface of the outer race 6 as illustrated in Fig'. l., i. e. to shape said surface in the form ot a portion oit' a sphere centered at c, the centre ot the bearing'. rllhe outer surface ot the inner race 7 isso formed that tlie curve formed by the intersection ot any plane through the axis ot shaft 2 and said outer surtace has the saine radius olf' curvature as the .inner surface o'i' race The rollers Erl are neither bull shaped or cylin drical but are., w'vhat may be terined barrelshaped. To be more specific, each roller is so formed that cross-sections on planes perpi-nidicular to its lonejitudinal anis are circular. the lateral surface being a` portion of thev surface lprined by revolvingan arc oit less 'than 180. of a circle about its chord. Referring; to Figure l it will be seen that the radius et curvature r oft the lateral aro ol each roller is slightly less then the radius ot curvature r of the inner surface of the side ot the bearing' shoivn in outer race G. lllhile the rollers 8 do not give BES lll

that their longitudinal axes maintain a substantially parallel relationship with respect to the axis of shaft 2. One form oi such a cage is shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 as comprising a pair ot annular members or rings 12 adapted to extend into the annular space between the races and each provided with cutaway portions 14 to clear the rollers 8. The rings 12, 12 may be secured to each other in any suitable manner, as by means of through bolts 13. In Fig. 1 the rings 12 are shown provided with oppositely located depressions 15 which together with depressions at the ends of rollers 8 form seats for balls 16.

In addition to the advantages already pointed out it will be seen that if for any reason the rollers 8 skew around the degree of Contact is reduced but slightly as `sections in directions parallel to their longitudinal axes and away from the centers of each roller. This may be accomplished in various ways, two being illustrated in 4 and 5.

Calling attention to Fig. 4 it will be seen that each roller 8 comprises a central section 8 and end sections 8" each loosely mounted on the reduced central portions of a rod or shaft 21 keyed to rings 12, 12. Springs may be provided between adjacent sections for the purpose of spreading the latter.

The form of the invention shown in Fig. 5 is similar to that of F ig. 4 in that each roller 8 comprises three sections 8a, 8, butrinstead of utilizing springs to spread the sections, fiuid pressure means is employed. For this purpose the central section 8la is provided on `opposite sides with a cylindrical recess 26 adapted to receive piston members formed on sect-ions 8*1. Each rod 21 is provided with a central bore 27 terminating adjacent the middle of said rod in openings 28, whereby Huid under pressure may be introduced into each cylinder 26. One of the ends ot each rod 2l` instead of being keyed to a ring 12 is screwed into a modified form of ring indicated at 12. The latter is similar to rings 12 already described but is provided in addition with a central disk portion 3() and a central t-ubular extension 82. The tube 32 communicates with the passages 27 through a passage or passages 31. The tube 32 is rotatably connected to a tank, or other source, of fluid under pressure 33, packing 34 being provided to prevent leakage.

If desirable, when the sectionalized type ot roller is employed, the central section may be held against axial translation with respect to its rod by any suitable means. Thus in Fig. 4 I have shown a peripheral groove on the rod 21 in which the end of a set-screw 51, radially tapped into section 8, may engage. This arrangement will ermit rotation but will prevent axial trans ation of said section 8.

Preferably the design of the parts, in the form shown in Figs. 4 and 5, is such that the end sections 8 and 8*l will be held out of engagement with the races by abutting the shoulders on rods 21 and 21 when the particular roller of which said sections are a art is on the slack side of the bearing. ee Fig. 6.)

It will be noted that each of the rollers shown in Figs. 1, 4 and 5 is in the form of a circular spindle, truncated for convenience in mounting and to save material. I use the expression circular spindle in its geometrical sense, i. e. to designate a solid generated bv the revolution of an arc of a circle about its chord. In the form shown in Fig. 1 the radius of curvature of the generating arc of each spindle is less than those of the race surfaces so that the rollers need not be sectionalized to allow 4relative rotation of axially spaced points on the surface of the spindles. In the forms shown in Figs. 4 and 5, however, the radius of curvature of the spindle generating are is the same as those of the generating arcs of the race surfaces. In short, there is a long curve-line contact between the spindles and races so that some provision must be made, to reduce sliding friction, to permit relative rotation of axially spaced sections of the spindles. The sectionalizing of the spindles as shown in the last mentioned figures, and already described, permits this relative rotation.

My improved bearing, as previously pointed out, possesses a high degree of contact under all operating conditions, is selfaligning and in addition is capable of carrying considerable thrusts thus accomplish ing the function of a thrust bearing. as well as a radial one.

Having described my invention, what l claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A composite roller bearing comprising races, a plurality of barrel-shaped rollers mounted between said races, each of said rollers comprising a plurality of relatively rotatable sections, and means for spreading said sections.

2. A composite roller bearing comprising races, a plurality of barrel-shaped rollers mounted between said races, each of said rollers comprising a plurality of relatively rotatable sections, and yielding means for spreading said sections.

llo

3. A composite roller bearing comprising races, plurality of barrel-shaped rollers mounted between said reces, each of Said rollers comprising' a plurality of relatively rotatable Sections;7 und means for exerting Huid pressure between Seid seetone for spreading the same.

fl. A composite rollell 11e-(wing comprisup; races, e plurality ot b:1I1el-el1apeCl rollers mounted between eutl reces, eeoh of 10 seid rollers comprising e plurality of tela.- tively rotatable sections, and means lol' eX ertnghydraulic pressure between tlle een tions of each spindle.

In testimony whereof l have utilized my 15 signature. 

